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Hindus welcome showcasing of Bhagavata-Purana by San Diego Museum of Art

The San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) is presenting “Epic Tales from Ancient India” exhibition of world-renowned over 90 paintings of 16th-19th centuries from June nine through September three.

It includes depictions from Hindu texts Bhagavata-Purana and Ramayana, and Ragamala. The exhibition also includes an interactive performance space to bring the narratives to life through hands-on workshops, musical performances, dance, educational storytelling and more; Museum announcement says.

Activities associated with this exhibition include collaborative rangoli, lecture by a Swami, Navarasa Dance Theater, Indian miniature paintings workshop, henna painting, Indian traditional puppet making, Indian dances, Indian films, etc.

Welcoming SDMA for exhibiting artworks chronicling Hindu texts through paintings, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that art had a long and rich tradition in Hinduism and ancient Sanskrit literature talked about religious paintings of deities on wood or cloth.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged other major art museums of the world, including Musee du Louvre and Musee d'Orsay of Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Los Angeles Getty Center, Uffizi Gallery of Florence (Italy), Art Institute of Chicago, Tate Modern of London, Prado Museum of Madrid, National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, etc., to frequently organize Hindu art focused exhibitions, thus sharing the rich Hindu art heritage with the rest of the world.

Museum’s collection of Indian paintings “consists of more than 1,400 works of art created during the 12th through 19th centuries at the Mughal, Deccani, Rajasthani and Pahari courts” and is claimed to be “one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of South Asian paintings outside of India”.

SDMA, whose mission includes “to inspire, educate, and cultivate curiosity”, was initially inspired in 1915, and it has 20,000 objects in its permanent collection. Roxana Velasquez and Harvey White are Executive Director and Trustees President respectively.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about 1.1 billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in USA.